


Acceptance

by Bread_Bird



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, i have no idea how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:42:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28916289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bread_Bird/pseuds/Bread_Bird
Summary: Korekiyo had never been very good with children. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, he certainly put in an effort that he thought was good enough, but they were bored or scared of him more often than not. He did his best to seem inviting or to tell stories that they may consider interesting, but he found that the older the child was, the harder it was for him to hold their attention. Usually, this didn’t bother him; he would love to educate the world’s next anthropologists, but he was also perfectly happy to have conversations with the adults in the places he visited. He simply fit in better with an older crowd; he always had, due to how he was raised, and he figured that he always would. One thing, however, made Korekiyo quickly reconsider this idea: Rantaro.Rantaro and Korekiyo watch Rantaro's sister for the day. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Amami Rantaro & Amami Rantaro's Sisters, Amami Rantaro/Shinguji Korekiyo, Shinguji Korekiyo & Amami Rantaro's Sisters
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59





	Acceptance

**Author's Note:**

> How do you title or tag a fic

Korekiyo had never been very good with children. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, he certainly put in an effort that he thought was good enough, but they were bored or scared of him more often than not. He did his best to seem inviting or to tell stories that they may consider interesting, but he found that the older the child was, the harder it was for him to hold their attention. Usually, this didn’t bother him; he would love to educate the world’s next anthropologists, but he was also perfectly happy to have conversations with the adults in the places he visited. He simply fit in better with an older crowd; he always had, due to how he was raised, and he figured that he always would. One thing, however, made Korekiyo quickly reconsider this idea: Rantaro.

Rantaro was insistent on finding his sisters ever since they partnered up to travel the world. Korekiyo knew from the beginning that Rantaro had twelve younger sisters, and at the time, their relationship was casual and friendly enough to just aid in the search and to never have to interact with the ones that they found, if any. Korekiyo remained optimistic for Rantaro’s sake, and eventually, it paid off. They had found three as of now, and Rantaro had immediately gotten to work being the absolute best brother he possibly could. Oh, it brought Korekiyo such joy to see his partner happy, even if just from afar, or to hear it from behind the room he shut himself in the first few times Rantaro’s sisters came to visit. 

Eventually, Rantaro started luring him out to socialize along with him. Dinner at home, tagging along on public outings, or just spending time with Rantaro and any one of his sisters. The two older ones, who were closer to Rantaro in age than not, seemed to quite enjoy Korekiyo’s company. They seemed dazzled by Korekiyo’s stories, and they were constantly trying to get him involved in whatever conversation they were having. It flustered him, and he always needed some time after to recoup, but it allowed him to have a chance to talk about the things that his dearest friend had already heard him ramble about hundreds of times over. Speaking of whom, the look on Rantaro’s face whenever Korekiyo came out of his shell was one that he would have loved to photograph and put up on their wall. That look of pride, of pleasant shock, meant so much to him, especially after the ostracization he faced from his peers for so long. 

The one that Korekiyo had trouble getting through to was the youngest one. She was about nine, and they had found her living with some village on the other side of the world before they took her back to Rantaro’s father. From Rantaro’s story about how she had gotten away, she must have been rather young. The first time they had met, she had introduced herself as Kaida, and then proceeded to ignore Korekiyo for the rest of the trip. She was attached to Rantaro’s side until they managed to get her home, acting like Korekiyo wasn’t there entirely despite Rantaro’s urging for her to spend time with him, and she had thrown a massive temper tantrum when Rantaro tried to return to his own apartment. It was a thoroughly startling experience to say the least, but Korekiyo never told Rantaro that. They were dating now, a couple, and he didn’t want a child to come between that, especially one that wasn’t even theirs. Rantaro, though, very much wanted them to get along; that’s what today was for.

Kaida was staying with them that night, and then her and Rantaro would have a sibling day with their other sisters the day after. Korekiyo’s beloved parnter had set it up, consulting him first, of course, but that didn’t make Korekiyo any less anxious about it. Hopefully, though, he wouldn’t have to be alone. Rantaro had promised to be there all day, making sure everything went smoothly. It wasn’t like Korekiyo was scared of Kaida, it was more that he was scared of disappointing Rantaro. He had found over time that he often scared people with a misplaced story or a threat that came out a little meaner than he had intended it to, and it would break Rantaro’s heart if Korekiyo frightened away the little sister that he had just gotten back. He likely wouldn’t break up with him, but Rantaro’s disapproval would eat at him from the inside until the day he died. (They had been working on that; Korekiyo often had quite the reaction to slip-ups, a fear of making Rantaro love him any less, which Rantaro told him countless times wouldn’t happen, but they both understood that he was still healing. It would get through eventually.) 

Regardless, though, Korekiyo had been working tirelessly all week ever since the day had been set up. He had organized some of his journals from his and Rantaro’s travels, as well as a few stories he had picked up over the years, as potential stories to tell Kaida. If that wasn’t her thing, he had picked out several movies that he himself had never gotten to watch as a child, as well as a few of Rantaro’s suggestions. They had picked out snacks together, set up the couch for her to sleep on, and Korekiyo had deep cleaned the entire apartment the night before. He was finishing up a few minor details in the kitchen when there was finally a knock at the door, and he rushed right past Rantaro in the living room to get it. “Good morning!”

Kaida was standing at the door, suitcase in hand. She looked up at Korekiyo, dressed casually for once in his life, with wide eyes. She just stared for a second, and Korekiyo stared back, keeping what he thought was a welcoming smile on his face, even behind the mask. The silence was deafening, just for a moment, and Korekiyo almost wished it stayed that way after she finally did say something. “Why did you cut your hair short if you’re still gonna look like a girl?”

Korekiyo froze, and Rantaro quickly hopped up from the couch, gently nudging Korekiyo out of the way. “Aaand that’s my cue! Hey, Kaida, come on in, we’re happy to have you here!” Kaida gasped the second Rantaro came into view, letting go of her suitcase in order to latch onto her brother in a tight hug. Rantaro picked her right up, shutting the door right in front of his stunned partner, grabbing Kaida’s suitcase with his other hand. “Are you excited to spend the night?”

“Yes!” the little girl was beaming, and she didn’t look like she was going to let go of him anytime soon. “We gotta have fun all day!”

“All day? Wow, that’s a lot. I bet that can be arranged. Kiyo’s excited to hang out with you, too, Kaida, could you say hi to him?” setting the suitcase against a wall, Rantaro turned so that Kaida was facing Korekiyo once again. Korekiyo gave a little wave whenever Kaida decided to look at him, and, much to his disappointment, she crinkled up her nose.

“He’s weird. He wears a mask when he’s not sick. I just wanna hang out with you.”

“Kaida, be nice. Kiyo’s my friend, remember?” Rantaro started to pry the little girl off to set her on her feet, but Kaida held onto him harder and whined. Rantaro let out an almost inaudible sigh. “Alright, I’ll hold you for a little bit longer, but only if you say hi.”

With a huff, Kaida turned to Korekiyo again. “Hi, Kiyo.”

“Good morning, Kaida,” Korekiyo replied softly, still trying his absolute best to appear welcoming despite the fear that he had already managed to screw this up. “I hope you don’t mind, but Rantaro and I took the liberty of picking out a few movies for us to watch together, if you’d like.”

“I don’t wanna watch movies.”

“That’s why I said-”

“I wasn’t done talking!” she frowned, and Korekiyo shut his mouth again. “Mama says it’s rude for the help to interrupt me or talk to me, so you shouldn’t talk to me, ‘kay?” Kaida turned back to her now stunned brother, that innocent smile plastered back on her face. “I wanna play Monopoly! Can we please play Monopoly?”

“Uh…” Rantaro briefly looked between Korekiyo and his sister, his face matching Korekiyo’s own stunned expression. “We don’t have Monopoly. I’m sorry.”

“Oh. Can you get it? I wanna play Monopoly, and bake cookies, and paint our nails, and watch movies with you.”

“Didn’t you just say you didn’t want to watch a movie?” This time, whenever Rantaro set her down, Kaida stayed down, running over to the couch and sitting on it. 

“I don’t wanna watch movies with Kiyo. I wanna watch movies with you, and I don’t wanna watch em right now, I wanna watch em later. You gotta go find Monopoly first, then we bake cookies, then we paint our nails, and then we can watch a movie while Kiyo goes away.”

“Kaida, I told you, we don’t have Monopoly.”

“That’s why you gotta go find it! Go to the store ‘n get it for me!” Kaida gave her brother the sweetest, most innocent smile that Korekiyo had ever seen, coupled with puppy dog eyes that he now figured were genetic. Rantaro looked between the two of them and sighed, chuckling softly.

“You drive a hard bargain, kid. How about I go double check to see if we have it, Kiyo looks for the stuff to bake cookies, and you go look under our bed to see if there’s nail polish under there? Our room is the first door on the right.” Without having to be told twice, the little girl hopped right up and ran out of the room, slamming Korekiyo and Rantaro’s bedroom door behind her once she was inside. Korekiyo went to say something to Rantaro, casting a worried glance towards him, but his partner was already leaving him alone. Korekiyo didn’t try to chase him, instead pursing his lips and heading to the kitchen.

While Korekiyo dug through their pantry, knelt down on the floor while trying to see if they had any materials to bake with, Kaida came skipping in and sat down at their kitchen table. Korekiyo could see her legs swinging out of his peripherals. “Did you find nail polish, Kaida?”

“Yeah, and other things,” she replied, humming softly to herself. 

“Oh?” Korekiyo looked up from the shelves in front of him, internally thrilled that she had dignified him with a response. “What sort of other things?” The second Korekiyo looked at her, Kaida hid something close to her chest, shielding it with her arms so Korekiyo couldn’t see it.

“Arts and crafts stuff. I wanna do crafts until Rantaro finds Monopoly.” 

“...I see. Have fun,” Korekiyo couldn’t help but feel a bit worried as he turned back to the pantry, going silent once again. He heard Kaida hum for a minute longer, some nonsensical tune she seemed to be making up herself, before she spoke again.

“Why do you wear a mask all the time? It’s weird.”

Korekiyo took a moment to think to himself, hands never stilling. “I don’t think it’s weird at all.”

“It is. You don’t hafta do it, but you do it all the time anyway.”

“Well, I suppose it’s like… a favorite bracelet to me. You know how Rantaro wears bracelets all the time?” when he didn’t hear an answer, he looked over. Kaida was nodding along, and she had lowered whatever she was doing to her lap. “They make him comfortable, and he likes them. My mask is the same way for me. Besides, it’s not all that strange in different cultures for parts of the face to be covered at all times. Different places dress differently.”

“...Whaddya mean?” 

It took all of Korekiyo’s strength not to start off on an entire tangent then and there. “Well, certain religions cover their faces or their hair for modesty. That is not how you nor I were raised, but regardless, their reasoning is their own. In the same sense, different cultures wear no clothing at all. I was not brought up in either of those ways, but I was encouraged to wear a rather specific mask often, if not all the time.”

“Oh,” she looked back down, and she started swinging her legs again. “You’re still weird, but that makes sense.” 

At that moment, Rantaro came back into the kitchen empty-handed. “Hey, so, apparently, I was right about us not having Monopoly. Kiyo, how did the stuff for the cookies come along?”

“I regret to inform you that we don’t have any flour.”

“How in the ffff-” Rantaro glanced at his sister, “-fffrick do we not have flour?” 

“I believe we used it to make bread last week. Does this constitute a run to the store? I can handle it.”

“Noooo, you’re gonna mess it up! Rantaro’s gotta go!” Kaida whined, and Korekiyo heard something hard hit the table. “Rantaro’s gotta get it or it doesn’t count! And I don’t wanna go to the store!”

“Alright, alright, I can do that, kiddo, relax! Are you going to be fine here with Kiyo?”

Kaida took a moment to look between the two of them, and she huffed, flopping forward onto the table. “I guess.”

“Perfect! Uh, Kiyo, could we have a word in the other room, please? Bedroom?” Rantaro offered a hand to Korekiyo. Korekiyo nodded silently, taking Rantaro’s hand, and the adventurer pulled him to his feet and to their room. 

Once there, Rantaro gently shut the door and took Korekiyo’s other hand. The momentary silence was awkward, tense, more so than they had felt with one another in a while. When they both started to speak at the same time, an ‘I’m sorry’ from the both of them caused them both to stop dead in their tracks. “Pardon, Rantaro, darling, what are you sorry for?”

“For some reason it didn’t occur to me that my parents would spoil Kaida rotten after she got home. She’s being kinda mean to you, babe, she called you weird and told you that you looked like a girl, and I don’t want either of you to be upset. How about you, what could you possibly be apologizing for?” Rantaro let go of Korekiyo’s hands in favor of cupping the anthropologist’s face, thumb gently grazing across his cheekbone. Korekiyo melted into his touch, turning enough that his face was pressed into Rantaro’s palm.

“Firstly, gender is a completely human construction, and while I do somewhat mind being called weird, being referred to in a less than masculine way does not bother me. But, I’m apologizing for simply being odd, I suppose. Just standing there like a lame duck. I want her to like me, and I do not want this to be a stressful event for you, but I’m afraid I’m struggling.”

“Oh, Kiyo, hon, don’t even worry about that. That’s just how you are, it’s not your fault,” Rantaro’s smile was well meaning, but the statement still felt sort of backhanded. “Now, are you going to be okay if I leave you here with Kaida by yourself? I’ll be gone for an hour, tops. I trust you completely, and I think you can do it if you feel up to it.”

“...Alright, Rantaro. Yes, I think I can do it,” Korekiyo replied after a moment, giving Rantaro a weak smile. The one Rantaro gave in return, though, was huge, and it had to be brighter than even the sun shining through their window. Gods. 

“Perfect. I’m so proud of you, I hope you know that,” his fingers grazed the edge of Korekiyo’s mask. “Can I kiss you? For real?” Korekiyo nodded his assent, and with that, Rantaro pulled down the mask just low enough to lean in and kiss him, their lips locking together for just a few moments, not long enough,  _ never  _ long enough, before pulling away. He fixed Korekiyo’s mask for him right after, and Korekiyo put his hand over Rantaro’s, squeezing gently.

“Just be back soon, alright?” Korekiyo murmured. “You promised we would do this together. I don’t want to ruin something.”

“You won’t. I promise that, too,” Rantaro pulled away from Korekiyo, opening the door for him. Hesitantly, he walked back into the kitchen, where Kaida was still hard at work doing whatever she was doing. Rantaro followed right behind him, grabbing their keys off the hook. “I’ll be right back, Kaida, please be good for Kiyo!”   
“Mmkay,” she replied, never looking up at him. With that, Rantaro gave Korekiyo a quick kiss on the cheek and walked straight out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him. The frown on Kaida’s face didn’t go unnoticed by Korekiyo.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, making no effort to move towards her.

“Yep,” she said, a little too fast. “I was thinking about the nail polish. I want you to go get me the prettiest pink you can find and one for you and Rantaro, please.” Korekiyo hesitated, and that’s when the little girl’s face turned sour once more. “Now.” 

“Ah, yes. Hold on a moment,” Korekiyo hurried off to his room, shutting the door behind him. Almost relieved to have another second to himself, Korekiyo pulled the small bin of nail polish out from under the bed. It took him a minute to go through, but he ended up settling on a navy blue for himself, a yellow for Rantaro, and, as requested, the prettiest pink he could find for Kaida. 

Feeling a little bit more refreshed and confident, Korekiyo walked back out to the kitchen, three bottles in hand, only to find that Kaida was no longer at the table. He didn’t think much of it at first, she likely just went to the bathroom, and he noticed that she had left whatever she was working on laying on the table. From the initial distance, he couldn’t quite make it out, but as he got closer, he noticed exactly what it was. One of his favorite masks sat there, cut up into tiny, irreparable pieces, a pair of scissors lying right next to it. His heart sank in his chest, knowing that it wasn’t salvageable yet trying in vain to piece together the shreds. 

Several minutes passed, and Korekiyo continued all the while to try to reassemble the fabric until it struck him that wherever Kaida had gone, she hadn’t come back. Quickly abandoning the pile, he walked to their bathroom, but when he went to knock on the door, he found that it was already open. Kaida wasn’t there. 

Fuck.

Korekiyo prided himself on being a lot of things; well read, well travelled, calm, collected, but none of those applied now. Korekiyo immediately flew into a panic as he flipped the entire apartment over looking for Kaida. Every single place that she may have been hiding, he checked. He checked those places a second time, a third time, and when she wasn’t in any of those, he grabbed his apartment key. “Kaida! If you’re in here, please, please come out while I’m gone!” he called in vain to the apartment. He knew she wasn’t there anymore, wherever she had gone. He knew the place too well for that.

Korekiyo couldn’t bring himself to care about how he appeared to his neighbors as he walked through the halls of their apartment complex. She couldn’t have gotten outside, right, and if she did, she couldn’t have gotten far? He looked strange to begin with, but wandering the halls aimlessly must have made him look downright neurotic. It was several minutes before he determined that she was either way too good at tag or that she wasn’t there, either, and with just a little bit of hope, Korekiyo stepped outside into the cold winter’s air. 

Korekiyo immediately regretted not bringing a jacket with him when he got outside. Despite his sweater, it was still freezing out. He quickly shook his own concerns off. Rantaro was the survivalist, obviously, but he knew that if Kaida was outside for too long without Korekiyo or Rantaro finding her, then the worst could happen. He refused to let Rantaro lose his sister again, and Korekiyo didn’t know if he’d be able to live with himself if he didn’t find her. There was sleet falling from the sky, making the ground cold and slick as it fell and not helping with the frigid temperature. Still, though, Korekiyo felt a warmth in his core as he lapped the building a few times. He checked under the rows of cars, in every nook and cranny he could find, and he still found absolutely nothing of the little girl. He was just about to start on his fourth check of the outside before venturing into the streets when slowly, carefully, a familiar car pulled into the parking lot. Checking his phone with a glance, Korekiyo noticed that it had been approximately an hour before his partner had left for the store, and here he was, returning home, while Korekiyo had no Kaida to speak of. Even with the ice, Rantaro had kept his promise to be back in time; he couldn’t say the same about his end of the bargain.

Korekiyo wanted to hide. He was half-prepared to run inside and act like he had never left, to plead ignorance on the whole situation, but the best he could do was stand there on the sidewalk, frozen in place. This was his fault, regardless of consequences, and he had to face that. Rantaro noticed Korekiyo as soon as he got out of the car, ignoring the grocery bag in the backseat in favor of going to him. “Kiyo, it’s freezing out here, what are you doing?” he asked, shedding his coat in favor of wrapping it around Korekiyo’s shoulders. “You’re all red….”

Korekiyo pushed the coat back into Rantaro’s hands. “Rantaro, I have something I need to tell you, and before I say it, I would like to let you know that I am already incredibly sorry and that I have been trying to fix it for a while now.”

“What happened?” Rantaro furrowed his brow, insistently covering Korekiyo with his coat. “Is Kaida okay, did she get hurt?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know. At some point, she managed to get away from me, and I couldn’t find her in the apartment, around the building, or outside, and I have no idea where else she could be.” As he spoke, Korekiyo watched Rantaro’s face fall, slowly but surely letting go of him. He looked devastated, and Korekiyo could feel himself starting to shake. “I-”

“I lost her again,” Rantaro muttered, his gaze drifting down to the ground. “Oh my gods, Kiyo, I lost her again. I shouldn’t have left without her, gods damn-” Rantaro kicked the curb to the side of him, then slumped to sit on it, burying his head in his hands. Korekiyo hesitantly sat down beside him, wrapping his arms around him. The ground was cold and wet, as was he, but Rantaro didn’t push him away. In fact, after a second, he pulled Korekiyo into a tight hug, a shaky breath escaping his lips.

“It’s not your fault, you know,” Korekiyo murmured. “We can just go find her now. She’s likely just fine, she probably found some hiding space nearby and is waiting for you to come find her.” 

“Right on the latter, not on the former,” he replied, not even looking at Korekiyo as he hauled himself to his feet once again. “I’m gonna check around here again. Maybe… maybe she’ll come back if I look for her. Could you take the car, drive the area a bit?” Korekiyo noticed that Rantaro’s face had gone red and splotchy, and he sniffled softly when Korekiyo took the keys out of his hand.

“We’ll find her. I’m sure of it,” he took the coat off, giving it back to Rantaro. Once Rantaro took it, Korekiyo pressed a quick kiss to his cheek through his mask and hurried into the car. It was still warm from Rantaro’s trip, and with that, Rantaro headed off into the rain and the cold to search for himself.

Korekiyo drove in complete silence around the area, in about a five mile radius. There was no way she could have gotten too far, but there was always a chance. He was more focused on the search than the ice on the road, so when he heard a voice from the backseat, he just about jumped out of his skin.

“Was Rantaro crying?” Kaida asked, peering over Korekiyo’s shoulder and out the windshield of the car. Korekiyo could have sworn he felt his heart stop in his chest for a moment, and he gasped, pulling over to the side of the road before whipping around to get a good look at her. She looked warm and dry; if she had been outside, it hadn’t been for very long. 

“When did you get in here?!” his voice came out a bit louder, a bit more panicked than he intended it to, and Kaida flinced, falling back onto the seat. Korekiyo sighed, taking a second to relax, and then tried again. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Yes, he was, we were both really scared.”

“Oh… I got in when Rantaro went to the store. I changed my mind, and I wanted to go with him, so I snuck out.” Kaida did appear to be truly remorseful. Her bottom lip was quivering, he noticed, and she looked like she was tearing up. “I’m sorry…”

“I’m glad you’re safe, okay? Please don’t cry. I’ll call Rantaro, and then I’ll leave the two of you alone so that you may do whatever you’d like. You can come sit in the front seat, or you may stay in the back, but please buckle up, the roads are icy and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Kaida nodded, staying right where she was for a moment before deciding to climb into the front of the car. She buckled herself up, pulling her feet up onto the seat and watching out the window as Korekiyo started driving again. He put his phone between his ear and his shoulder, and the phone barely rang once before Rantaro picked up.

“Did you find her?” he asked immediately. Korekiyo could vaguely hear the crunch of frozen grass beneath his feet on the other end. 

“Yes. She was in the car the whole time, she snuck out to go with you. She’s perfectly safe.” Rantaro let out a sigh of relief, a breath that he didn’t realize he had been holding.

“Thank the gods. Be careful driving home. I love you. Gods, I love you.” Rantaro didn’t even let Korekiyo reply before hanging up the phone, and Korekiyo set it back in the cupholder. Within a few minutes, they were pulling back into the parking lot of their apartment building, where Rantaro was standing on the sidewalk. The second Kaida got out of the car, Rantaro ran towards her, swooping her up off of her feet and into a tight hug. “Don’t ever do that again!”

The second Kaida was in her brother’s arms, the little girl started bawling, burying her face into his shoulder and holding onto him tightly. She apologized to him profusely as he carried her inside. Korekiyo followed at a safe distance behind, the bag with the flour and the board game in it in hand. By the time they got up the stairs and back inside, Kaida had mostly calmed down to some hiccups and sniffles, and Rantaro sat down on the couch, still holding her. “I’m sorry, Rantaro, I didn’t mean to scare anybody, don’t be mad at me…”

“You did, though, but we’re not mad at you. We were so, so worried, we didn’t want to lose you again, okay? I forgive you, but you have got to stop sneaking off like that. You know what happened last time,” Rantaro replied, glancing up at Korekiyo after. “Just set the bag down and go change into some dry clothes, alright?” 

“I was thinking about retiring to our room until I have to make dinner, actually. I think Kaida may appreciate the time alone with you.” Regardless, the bag was set on the coffee table. Kaida squirmed in Rantaro’s arms momentarily to look at it.

“...Monopoly isn’t any fun with two people. You’ve gotta play with us, and you have to bake cookies, too, because… because somebody’s gotta help me reach the high cabinets. You gotta paint our nails with us, too, because you already picked out a color. Change clothes ‘n come back. You have to.” Kaida didn’t wait for him to respond, tucking her face against Rantaro’s shoulder again. Korekiyo stood there for a moment, stunned, then simply nodded.

“...Alright, Kaida. I shall return momentarily, then.” For a moment, Korekiyo’s eyes locked with Rantaro’s, and the grin on the adventurer’s face was contagious. Korekiyo beamed, rushing off to their room to change. 

The rest of the day went smoothly. Once they were all warmed up and dry, they started a round of Monopoly. Rantaro ended up winning, but Kaida was a close second. After that, as requested, were the cookies. Rantaro found some recipe online, but by the time they got done, half the cookies were burnt, their kitchen was covered in flour (Rantaro had tried to mix the dry ingredients with an egg beater), and there were really only a few salvageable ones left. The ones that did turn out right, though, were absolutely delicious. They turned on a movie while they painted their nails, and Rantaro insisted on getting three more colors and putting flowers on everyone’s nails after they had the bases on. That went just fine, dinner was made, they all ate while Rantaro and Korekiyo told some stories to pass the time, and they settled in for a movie of Kaida’s choice once they were done. She barely made it through half the movie before falling asleep between the two of them, head slumped onto Korekiyo’s arm. He didn’t even notice, until Rantaro pointed it out to him, engrossed in the movie. Carefully, they moved her to lay down on the couch in a more comfortable position, covered by a blanket, and shut off the lights before leaving for their own bedroom. 

Rantaro shut the door behind them, almost silently, and started changing into pajamas. Korekiyo did the same, sitting down on the bed. “Do you think that went alright?”

“Alright?” Rantaro turned to look at him, pulling a t-shirt on. “I think it went perfect. Baby, she loves you.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. You gotta stop stealing my sisters, they’re all gonna like you better eventually,” Rantaro teased. “C’mere, let me button your shirt for you. Don’t want you messing up your nails.” 

“Rantaro, your nails are done, too,” he chuckled, sitting up straight for him anyway. 

Rantaro buttoned Korekiyo’s shirt for him, removing his mask and giving him a quick kiss right after. “I know. I just wanted to do that.”

“You’re some sort of devil, I swear it, Rantaro,” Korekiyo replied, climbing into his spot in bed and laying down. Rantaro hopped in right beside him a moment later, pulling the anthropologist to his chest. 

“Your favorite devil, though. Sexiest devil this side of Japan,” he tossed the blankets over the both of them.

“Well…”

“‘Scuse me?” Rantaro faked offense, almost a pout. “There’s a sexier devil? You have a different favorite devil? I’m shocked and hurt, Kiyo, you should at least let me get in on that, too.” They shared a quiet laugh before Rantaro went right back to normal. “Anything you wanna talk about from today?”

“Yes, actually. You’re not mad at me for losing Kaida earlier, are you?”

“Nope,” Rantaro started petting Korekiyo’s head, fingers running through his hair every so often. “I technically lost her, too, more than once now. She snuck off, I’m not mad at you. I’m more mad at myself for not noticing, honestly.”

“You shouldn’t blame yourself, either. Neither of us had any idea or any part in it.”

“Yeah, I know. It just… would have sucked if something happened to her. I don’t know if I would have been able to live with myself. Not after the last time. Whatever. I’ll deal with those emotions eventually, they haven’t really set in right now. Anything else?”

“Ah… yes. I apologized for acting oddly earlier, and you said that’s ‘just the way I am.’ Do you think I’m strange, Rantaro?” The adventurer blinked, then snorted, then started laughing once again. Korekiyo frowned. “What?”

“You’re kidding, Kiyo. You’re asking me if I think you’re weird?” he pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Of course you’re a little weird. I’m a little weird. Everybody is.”

“Yes, but people are scared of me or they dislike me for it. Does it bother you?”

“Of course not,” Rantaro went dead serious again, pulling his partner just that little bit closer. “I like your kind of weird. It’s my favorite thing in the world. I wish you could see the look you get on your face whenever you get excited about something, or hear the way your voice gets a little bit higher, or how you ever so slightly start talking with your hands underneath the table… You don’t scare me or embarrass me, if that’s what you’re worried about. I think you’re perfect.”

“...Thank you, my dear,” he murmured. “What about you? Anything you’d like to air?”

“Nah. Just know that I love you, and we did awesome today. Best babysitters ever.”

“...We won’t be having kids, right?”

“Oh, absolutely not. Not anytime soon. Love Kaida to pieces, but god, kids are exhausting. Did you see how the kitchen looked?”

“If I remember correctly, that was your fault, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t have to answer that if I don’t want to.”

Korekiyo chuckled softly. “Fine. I love you too. Goodnight, Rantaro.”

He didn’t see it, but he heard Rantaro yawn above him. “Goodnight, Korekiyo, see you in the morning.” With that, they fell asleep together, entangled in the blankets and each other’s arms. At one point in the night, Korekiyo woke up to find that he only had one half of Rantaro. Kaida had climbed into bed with them at some point, and Rantaro had elected to hold each of them in one arm. Contented, he fell back asleep with ease, and the night came and went without any issues. 

The next morning was fairly tranquil as well. Kaida had dragged Rantaro out of bed much earlier than usual, the adventurer stumbling into the kitchen around 8. Korekiyo had been up since six or so, and he promptly shut the book he was reading in order to help Rantaro with breakfast. It took a bit longer than normal, what with the cleaning and such, but eventually, breakfast was on the table, and Korekiyo sat nearby as Kaida and Rantaro ate. 

“Kiyo, where’s your food?” Kaida asked around a mouthful of pancakes.

“I’ll eat once you two leave.”

“But you’re going with us. You have to now.”

“Oh?” Korekiyo raised an eyebrow, shutting his book once more. “You would like me to join you and your siblings today?”

“Yeah! Unless we don’t have enough spots in the car… then we can leave Rantaro here! You gotta come now, so hurry up and eat!” Kaida went right back to wolfing down her food. Korekiyo blinked, looking over at his partner, who seemed just as shocked as he did.

“I didn’t do this intentionally, Rantaro, I promise.” 

“Didn’t I say last night that you have to stop stealing my sisters?” Rantaro chuckled softly, getting up to clear his plate. “Whatever. We have enough spots in the car, so I won’t get left at home by my own sister and partner. Come on, eat something.”

“My apologies,” Korekiyo replied sheepishly, getting up and serving himself. Rantaro’s arm snaked around his waist, kissing Korekiyo’s cheek as he put food on his plate. Internally, Korekiyo was thrilled that their plan had worked, even with a mishap in the middle of the day. He didn’t know if he had been told to come out of pity, or if she genuinely enjoyed his company, but he had regardless seemed to have won over Kaida in one way or another. His only concern was that Rantaro was genuinely upset with him, but that thought was quickly silenced. 

“Don’t be sorry,” Rantaro replied, then leaned in close and said, “I’m proud of you. Can’t wait to spend the day together.”

Between Kaida and Rantaro, that was all the approval Korekiyo needed. 


End file.
